The picture. A great plain, comprising the entire Jerusalem district, where is the supreme Commander-in-Chief of the forces of good, Christ our Lord: another plain near Babylon, where Lucifer is, at the head of the enemy.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The passage depicts two vast plains as metaphors for the realms of good (Jerusalem) and evil (Babylon).
- In plain terms
- Good and evil are imagined as huge opposing landscapes.
- What can you take from it?
- Visualize moral struggles as expansive and tangible.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do visual metaphors shape moral thinking?
- Can opposing forces be more nuanced?
Another view
Geographic metaphors may oversimplify complex moral issues.
More from Ignatius of Loyola
The safest and most suitable form of penance seems to be that which causes pain in the flesh but does not penetrate to the bones, that is, which causes sufferi…
Permalink to quote #2 Imagine that leader of all the enemy, in that great plain of Babylon, sitting on a sort of throne of smoking flame, a horrible and terrifying sight. Watch him …
Permalink to quote #4 Let me look at the foulness and ugliness of my body. Let me see myself as an ulcerous sore running with every horrible and disgusting poison.
Permalink to quote #1
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